Seven Years and Counting

A stunning oak leaf hydrangea in my back yard

I am astounded to note that my blog is now seven years old. I started this little publication on Dec. 11, 2008, but never quite expected it to take off. And, yet, it did take off and soon I was posting monthly or weekly--sometimes even several times per week.

I am even more astounded to see that my blog is still getting several hundred views every day, despite the fact I've not posted in over a year! I hope to remedy that. Seriously. I've missed my blog, but life sometimes (often) had a way of taking over and the blog got pushed to the back burner and...well, you know how it goes.

But, just because I haven't been writing blog posts, doesn't mean I haven't been writing. I have been writing. A lot. I've written short stories, a full novel, part of another novel and even a few poems since I last posted here. I've also written a few dozen papers for the classes I've been taking as a student in Johns Hopkins' MA in Writing program.

It's that program that's been the main reason for my absence from this blog. I'm learning a lot and greatly enjoying all my classes there. It's hard to believe I've been at this for almost two years now, but it's true--I started the program in January, 2014 and hope to finish next year around this time. I also hope to post a bit more often on my blog during the coming year but I've learned my lesson about promising such things. I've announced brand new and exciting Blog Post Schedules multiple times over the last seven years and every one of those was eventually abandoned.

So, let's just say I'll be posting when I have something to say. Today probably isn't one of those occasions, except for the fact that I came upon this gorgeous display of fall color in my back yard (see above) and wanted to share it. The oak leaf hydrangea is one of my all-time favorite plants and this year it's been spectacular, possibly responding to the 70+ degree weather we are having this weekend.

Until next time....